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Genesis 3: The Key to the Whole Bible

Genesis 3 is the ultimate good news/bad news chapter of the Bible. It describes how the human race got into the mess we’re in, and it contains the first promise of a coming Savior. This sermon unpacks the chapter, and helps us discover a God who never stops seeking us.

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Sermon Notes

Genesis 3: The Key to the Whole Bible

Did you ever wonder how get we get into this situation? From your own situation to the state of the world? We can all go back to Genesis 3. It explains everything, and is the key to the Bible.

(Read the chapter if you didn’t listen to the sermon. Note how the temptation works, and especially, v. 15!)

Let’s take a look at this earth-shaking series of events.

Mankind is without sin, and fellowships easily with God. Satan works to introduce sin and all its aftermath into the human experience.

The snake first asks a question that has an easy “yes” answer to get the dialogue going. That was her first mistake–dialoguing with the enemy. He’s a liar! John 8:44

Let’s look at the temptation itself: First, the devil tries to get into the one relationship that was to show forth the love of Jesus for His church–marriage.

Instead of going to the woman’s spiritual covering, he went to her directly. Adam and Eve were in a covenant relationship, and should have walked through this together. If she was confused, she should have said, Let me talk to Adam about this. That was her first mistake.

“Has God really said….” Casting doubt on truth, on God’s word.

Then the direct lie comes to her, because she’s made herself ready to receive it.

The issue was whether Adam would let God determine what was good and bad, or would seek to decide that for himself, no matter what God said.

Her eyes WERE opened–to knowing sin, to seeing things without God’s Spirit to guide and interpret things, to being aware of what happens when you sin.

V. 6–the pattern of temptation for all time: capture the imagination with fantasy, attract, mess up the mind, stir up desire, and then end with destruction.
It looks good.
It feels good.
It makes sense

See 1 John 2:16–an obvious reference to this first sin.

This is THE FALL OF MAN! This act of disobedience was the greatest tragedy in history of universe, and the second greatest sin.
New Testament reference: Cor. 11:3–the simplicity that is in Christ (ref. to Eve’s deception)

Now they “know,” but what they know is guilt and shame. And they make their own futile attempts to cover themselves, and to try to get rid of the guilt. We all tend to do that at first.

“Where are you?” What we see here is the heart of God, seeking out the lost. God’s first reaction is to seek those lost in sin. He’s still doing it.

V. 11 Who told you? The goal of this question was to continue the process of drawing them back to Him. They needed to begin to look at their sin and confess. This is the beginning of conscience.

3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel.

First of all, mankind is being divided into two–those who follow God and those who don’t.

“HER Seed”? What an unusual phrase. Almost everywhere else in Scripture, a person’s genealogy is through the male. This is not just a prophecy about Jesus, but about His birth. God promises the defeat of Satan and the victory of the Redeemer who would come through one of Eve’s descendants.

V. 21–the LORD made coverings for them. This is the first substitutionary sacrifice–and a prophetic reference to the upcoming Jewish system of sacrifice for sin, and even more specifically, the death of Jesus on the cross.

Then God booted them out of the garden. God didn’t kick them because He was mean. God put them out so that wouldn’t live forever with sin and bondage that would separate them from God.

The whole fall of man and its overwhelming effect on the earth and our lives, and the promise of a Redeemer–this is the backdrop of the entire rest of the Scriptures. These first chapters of Genesis are what Jesus had in mind so many times when He said, “In the beginning…”

This was in many ways the central passage for how the NT writers thought.

Genesis 3 is the ultimate bad news/good news. It explains where all sin began, including the battle between the sexes. It explains the fall of man, including the introduction of war, disease, and animosity between men and women.

But it also shows a God of mercy, a God who could have just destroyed Adam and Eve for their rebellion, but instead, covered them in a way that protected them from His wrath, and then made sure that they wouldn’t be stuck eternally in a spiritually dead condition.

Even more than that, it shows a God who seeks!

Where are you? We’ve all sinned, and we’ve all tried to work out what that means, usually by covering over our own sin somehow. But it won’t work, and God has to be the one to take care of it. That first sacrifice points to the GREAT SACRIFICE.

Genesis 3 tells us that someone was coming. He’s come. God is saying, “Come to Me!” We all need to be forgiven, don’t we?

For those who already walk with Jesus, did you sin this week? Do you want God’s touch? He’s been seeking you. Let’s let Him find us today.

For those who haven’t yet answered the question, “Where are you?” today can be the day to say, “Here I am, Lord. Right here. I’ve sinned, and I’m ready to be forgiven. I’m ready to be found.”